New leadership will take over Winside volleyball as a first year head coach with the program will bring her experience from the tri-state area.
Coach Britney Konicek will have a 17-member team full of underclassmen and just one senior who has been keeping the energy in practice.
The Wildcat volleyball coaching staff will also have a first year assistant being Emerson Knust and Natalie Kruger will be a volunteer assistant.
Coach Konicek spent the past two seasons at Dakota Valley High School in North Sioux City, South Dakota.
"The girls have been working extremely hard all summer long (including) three different team camps," said Konicek. "Especially my first year coming in not knowing where people stand, working a lot on positional play and building team mentality. This is the most numbers we've had out in quite some time at Winside, so that's great to see that and keep building up the program."
The big class are the juniors with five.
During the first week of NSAA fall practices, the Winside volleyball time will continue to work on basic fundamentals and rotations.
All nine on varsity will play an important role on the court working through their rotation while replacing spots due to graduation and transferring.
Along with the leadership role from Jerzi Carlson and the stacked junior class, coach Konicek will be looking towards freshmen Tinsley Schwedhelm and Aftyn Schutt who will standout.
When looking at improvements from last year to this year, "from what I've seen on film, continue to work as a team and don't get ramped down and stay in condition all season long."
Winside finished 12-13 last season.
It's been about the mental and physical preparation for weight lifting and conditioning.
"Teamwork, bonding all summer and lots of camps; Kearney and Concordia," said Jerzi Carlson, lone Winside volleyball senior. "Then we just did a youth one where we coached the little kids."
August 11 in the morning was mainly conditioning with the first week of practice all about 'giving it your all, don't be nervous and learn in practice' according to Carlson.
Finishing with a winning record and beating their rivals, the Wynot Blue Devils, is a goal Carlson stated while coach Konicek also wants to keep the high energy all season long, finish with a winning record and win conference.
Carlson shared a message to the Winside Wildcat fans and her teammates.
"Their support is much appreciated," Carlson added. "I love when they dress up and come ready to be loud...be there for your underclassmen. They're nervous, they're scared, it's a whole new game. Just be there for a support system and lift them up."
The Winside volleyball team will host Wakefield during a Jamboree on Thursday, August 21 at 5:30 p.m.
"These girls have energy," said Konicek. "They have a lot of excitement and passion, honestly from the sport. A lot of girls have been around volleyball their whole life starting that third grade year. But again that passion, that drive is going to be what sets us a part right now."
The 2025 season opener for Winside volleyball will be on August 28 (correction from paper) at Creighton at 7 p.m. The Wildcats will then be in action on August 30 during the Hartington-Newcastle Quad. Winside will open with Howells-Dodge at 10 a.m., take on the host Hartington-Newcastle at 11 a.m. and close with Randolph at 1 p.m. in Hartington.
